How old is this deer?

[varmintH8R]

Southeast MI trail cam pic. He looks young to me (3 1/2?) but I am interested in some expert opinions. If he makes it another 2 years he could be special (for this area) but 'round here that is pretty unlikely. Will be fun to watch him this fall, if he doesn't magically disappear like some do come Oct 1 . . .

 

[Nimrodmar10]

Looks like a typical 3 1/2 year old deer or maybe even a 2 1/2. If he gets about 3-4 more years on the hoof, he'll be a good deer.

 

[SidecarFlip]

SE Michigan...He's safe from me. Now if it was west central (Big Rapids) all bets would be off...lol

 

[markopolo50]

I say 2.5 years old. Another year and he will have more mass and more points. Body looks good also but don't think 3.5, not for down here. SE??

 

[SidecarFlip]

I should have stated SW, not SE. I'm in the SE quadrant but my property is West Central. Just north of the line where howitzers are legal for deer and bear.

 

[rick523]

I agree with the 2 1/2 year old estimate, rack is on the thin side, and small body if the real deer hunters would pass him he will be a great deer in 3 more years but the odds in that are probably slim, as they would be in my part of the country as well. Yet everyone wants to know why they can't seem to kill a P&Y let alone a Booner. It's the age old story you cant kill a great buck if you don't let the good ones walk.

 

[TimeOnTarget]

If i were just looking at the rack, i would certainly say 2.5 When i look at his body though, he looks to me that he is 3.5 years mostly cause he's got the belly. 2.5's around here do not have that. If i were to ignore his belly, the rest of him looks to be 2.5



He's a tough call for me though.

 

[varmintH8R]

I agree with the 2 1/2 year old estimate, rack is on the thin side, and small body if the real deer hunters would pass him he will be a great deer in 3 more years but the odds in that are probably slim, as they would be in my part of the country as well. Yet everyone wants to know why they can't seem to kill a P&Y let alone a Booner. It's the age old story you cant kill a great buck if you don't let the good ones walk.

I totally agree with you, but am also a little mixed on putting formal restrictions in place (it has been discussed in parts of MI). I shot a nice 140 in pretty much the exact spot the above picture was taken 2 years ago, dressed out at 200lbs exactly. Prior to that my best buck was smaller than the one in the picture... It would have been hard to pass this guy up. 90% of my deer hunting is archery, which also narrows opportunities ....

Now I pass on anything smaller than my biggest, and take a cull buck or doe for meat. That works for me, but if someone who has never shot one that size (and especially a youth hunter) took it (the deer pictured) I would be flat-out excited for them. It's the classic "everything is relative" situation. Plus, anything that gets more hunters pumped and in the woods (and fighting gun-grabbers) is ultimately good for me.

 

[Bear Camp]

I agree with previous post on the sagging belly. So I vote 3 1/2.

Did anyone notice the second buck in the back ground? All you can see is the rack in tall weeds to the right. Looks a little smaller to me.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Our current governor and legislature are certainly not gun grabbers. Pension grabbers maybe.

I've owned the property near Big Rapids for a few years and I've hunted it regularly (and picked morrels as well). I've never seen a B&C deer on the property, nothing that large and the proliferation of deer (and now bear) are astouding. It's provided me with freezer meat without fail. I prefer anterless myself, late season. Landholder permits are the way to go IMO. My property abutts the Manistee National Forest and public hunting land so the hunters drive the deer into my parcel without fail. Lots of turkeys too. I'm not a turkey hunter and I think they (turkeys) know it. They strut by, by the dozens and ignore me.....

Of course I get the wayward tresspasser as well. Usually my 44 on my hip dissuades them quickly.

I'll give it a couple more years and just maybe go bear hunting.

 

[SidecarFlip]

No, but I do now, to the right. Might be weeds might be a smaller buck, thats a crap shoot.

 

[varmintH8R]

I agree with previous post on the sagging belly. So I vote 3 1/2.

Did anyone notice the second buck in the back ground? All you can see is the rack in tall weeds to the right. Looks a little smaller to me.

If there was a prize, sir, you would win it. It is not a crap shoot but indeed another buck (I have the benefit of the original HD picture). Here is a better picture (different day).

No prize for identifying the doe and fawn in the foreground . . .

 

[rick523]

I totally agree with you, but am also a little mixed on putting formal restrictions in place (it has been discussed in parts of MI). I shot a nice 140 in pretty much the exact spot the above picture was taken 2 years ago, dressed out at 200lbs exactly. Prior to that my best buck was smaller than the one in the picture... It would have been hard to pass this guy up. 90% of my deer hunting is archery, which also narrows opportunities ....

Now I pass on anything smaller than my biggest, and take a cull buck or doe for meat. That works for me, but if someone who has never shot one that size (and especially a youth hunter) took it (the deer pictured) I would be flat-out excited for them. It's the classic "everything is relative" situation. Plus, anything that gets more hunters pumped and in the woods (and fighting gun-grabbers) is ultimately good for me.

I agree with you on this,and no I'm not for formal restrictions per-say self-imposed yes! I guess that comes with age, and I have no problem with a youth hunter taking a deer like this. In fact I am all for it, as it helps to get them into the sport, and that is what we need someone to carry on the tradition. I guess what I was saying, or trying to state is the guys that go out and shoot the first thing that walks by, and then wonder why they never see any really good deer. We used to have a two buck limit here in Indiana,they changed that about 10 yrs. or so ago. The idea was to grow larger bucks it works to an extent, but not as fast as everyone hoped. The goal was to grow the kindda bucks they have across the state line in Il. The reason Il. works is because they have a restrictive firearms season. I think 7 days total. Hell here you can hunt with a firearm of one kind or another for about a month non-stop. I don't even hunt deer at home with a firearm, I have bowhunted for the last 42 years, and have never hunted Elk with a gun either, but have taken them with a bow also.That is about to change...Didn't mean to hi-jack your thread I apologize. I vote 2 1/2......

 

[varmintH8R]

I guess what I was saying, or trying to state is the guys that go out and shoot the first thing that walks by, and then wonder why they never see any really good deer

Didn't mean to hi-jack your thread I apologize.

First off, no apology needed -it's good discussion and I like hearing other's opinions. I hope MY reply to you read the way I intended, as we are totally on the same page. I get very frustrated with the "check out this 6 I shot, pity there aren't bigger deer around here" year after year.

Our firearms season in MI is (IMO) completely stupid. You can only shoot antlered deer, unless you buy an antlerless tag separately (if available). This leads to some (er, LOTS) of questionable bucks being shot year after year.

Quick story - 3 years ago I shot a squirrelly cull buck. He had a twisted left antler, was big bodied, and his rack (even without the twisty side) was pathetic. I shot him a few days into firearm season. When I took him to the processor, I was feeling a little self-conscious. You know, hey, I shot this guy to get him out of the population. When I looked at the deer they had hanging, probably 50+, he was easily in the top 5 for headgear. Believe me when I say he was pathetic - by no ones measure was he the least bit impressive. That was pretty eye-opening for me - make the law to incentivize killing any buck and that is exactly what you get...

Thanks to all for the responses on age. Never considered the "belly" part of it, at least explicitly. Every time I visit here I learn something!